The Care Act 2014
This page provides information to help you understand the Act and what we are doing in Haringey to implement it. It will be updated as we develop our work programme.
- The Care Act – Introduction
- Summary of Major Changes
- Phase 2 Care Act reforms - delay in implementation of cap on care costs
- Keeping you informed
Use the navigational links on the left menu for further information and for how Haringey is preparing for the Care Act.
The Care Act - Introduction
New legislation in the Care Act came into force on April 2015. The Care Act represents the biggest change to adult social care in over 60 years. If you receive care and support, or support someone who does, the Care Act could affect the way care is provided to you either now or in the future.
Under the act people will be given greater control over the support they receive. The Act is also intended to help people make more informed decisions about their care, which can help them remain independent for longer.
- Watch a video that summarises the key points of the Care Act (external link) - this has been put together by Skill for Care (external link)
Summary of Major Changes
The Act brings together best practice and places a number of new duties on councils. Some of these changes came into effect in April 2015 and others will come into effect in April 2020.
Below is a summary of the major changes:
- Providing information and advice about care and support services to help people make the best choices
- Offering support for self-funders in assessing, planning and managing their care
- Implementing new rights for carers, putting them on the same footing as the adults they care for
- Implementing a lifetime cap on care costs of £72,000 for people aged 65+ and monitoring an individual’s progress towards the cap
- Improving the customer experience, providing early intervention and prevention and delivering in a joined up way with our partners
Phase 2 Care Act reforms - delay in implementation of cap on care costs
On the 17 July 2015, the Government responded to a letter from the Local Government Association (LGA) calling for a delay in the implementation of the cap on care costs system.
The changes were due to come into force in April 2016, but in the light of concerns expressed by the LGA and many other stakeholders about the timetable for implementation, the Government has decided to delay implementation of the cap on care costs system, including changes to the means test, until 2020. The delay will allow time to be taken to ensure that everyone is ready to introduce the new system and to look at whether more can be done to support people with the costs of care.
The Department of Health has said that there remains a clear commitment to implementing the cap in this Parliament and they will share revised plans shortly.
For more about this change see the Delay in implementation on cap on care costs - LGA website (external link).
Keeping you Informed
Haringey Council has put in place a team to lead on the implementation of the Care Act, and they will be working to make sure the different parts of the Care Act are successfully up and running by April 2015 and April 2020.
We will be working with Haringey residents, carers and our partners to make sure services continue to meet the needs of local people and to help us make some of these changes in Haringey.
To get in contact with the Care Act team please email thecareact@haringey.gov.uk
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